Doctors, nurses and teachers face the sack if they fail to report cases of children with female genital mutilation under a new law announced by the Government yesterday (thursday). Ministers are to put health care professionals, including social workers, under under a mandatory duty to report

More than one in four people believe that a victim of rape or a sexual assault bears some responsibility if they were drunk, official figures show. More than a third said that people were mostly or partly responsible for sexual violence if they had been flirting heavily before the rape or assault.

A ‘fight cam’ CCTV is to be developed to spot street brawls as they kick off, it was announced yesterday, as official figures showed a rise in the proportion of alcohol-fuelled violent attacks. British scientists are developing smart surveillance camera systems that use computer software to

A “truth and reconciliaton” role similar to the commission that helped South Africa to come to terms with apartheid will be part of the child sex abuse inquiry, MPs were told yesterday. Justice Lowell Goddard, 66, the New Zealand High Court judge appointed as the third chairman of the inquiry

More rapists are behind bars in Britain than in any other country in the European Union, after a concerted drive to force up conviction rates. Some 5,408 prisoners were serving rape sentences in jails in England and Wales in 2013 compared with 3,600 in Germany, 2,287 in Spain and 2,034 in Italy

Mosques need to do more to deal with difficult issues including homosexuality, divorce, homelessness and crime among Muslims, according to a report published last night. They must also make greater efforts to reflect Britain’s Islamic community by ensuring leading roles for women and young people

More prisoners are serving sentences in England and Wales for murder and attempted murder than any other country in the EU, according to official figures published today. Jails also have three times as many inmates serving life sentences than the European average, the Council of Europe study

Full exit checks on people leaving the country are to be reintroduced in April despite warnings that it will cause delays at ports and stations, MPs were told yesterday. Ministers have already postponed the full implementation date by a week to ensure the new checks on travellers do not start

Teenage youths held in custody may be at risk of developing sexual aggression in adulthood because they fail to learn about healthy relationships, according to a report published today. The youngsters are unable to develop patterns of sexual behaviour preparing them for adult life in a single sex

A practice as brutal as female genital mutilation would not have survived for four minutes — let alone for thousands of years — if it had been inflicted on men, a Home Office minister has said. Lynne Featherstone also defended the failed prosecution of Dhanuson Dharmasena, a doctor cleared this